Belikrov
"The Lady of Candles has deemed mortalkind worthy of her gifts. Accept the Waxen Blood and serve your kin forevermore, safe in the knowledge your own soul will be judged favourably, while we, the Waxen Queen's servants, will tend to your body until the end of time. The soul need only serve a lifetime, but the body can serve for eternity. This is the decree of the Lady." ''- Alissa Borva, High Priestess of the Waxen Queen Belikrov is an exarch of the the Lady of Candles. Also known as the Queen of Wax, she descended to the Material Plane in 1DE. Appearing first in a small village on the border between Novdahain and Baarsk, she travels around Northern Farthrone, offering aid to those who fight against Xhahon-Dor. Manifestation Belikrov descended into a small village in eastern Novdahain during the winter of 1DE. Initially terrified by her appearance and obvious power, the villagers attempted to drive her out, but soon a band of nearby travelers, all bearing strange white markings along their neck and arms, came to her rescue. Proclaiming her their saviour, they sheperded Belikrov away to more amiable locations. Over the course of the winter, her cult grew from a band of five to dozens of priests and priestesses, all bearing her Waxen Gift. The Waxen Blood of Belikrov As Belikrov revealed to her devout followers, her role on the Material Plane is to help mortalkind in their war against the Primordials, specifically the armies of Xhahon-Dor. To do so, Belikrov has come with a bargain. In exchange for offering their body in eternal service to the Gods, Belikrov can ensure a mortal is judged favourably in the afterlife by the Lady of Candles, and that their soul will not be snatched by Demons or coerced by Devils. To seal this trade, a drop of Belikov's white blood is imbibed by the mortal in question, growing within their veins until their heart beats with a viscous, waxy liquid. When the mortal dies, their body will never rot, and can be animated easily by Cleric and Oracles of the Belikrov or the Lady of Candles. In this way, tended by the priests of Belikrov, armies of Waxen can be raised and used to fight the primordials, while the soul of the body resides in the care of the Lady. Despite her clergy's best efforts, reactions to the Waxen Gift have been mixed in the extreme. Some see Belikrov as an evil, manipulative necromancer, disguising herself in divine purpose to steal the bodies of the living. Others, most often on the front lines of the war, see Belikrov as a means to redeem their sins, and to ensure that even if they fall in battle, their body can fight to protect those they love forever. There are scattered reports of particularly zealous or desperate followers of Belikrov forcing people to accept her blood, though these are very rare, and most beneficiaries of the Waxen Gift accept it in good conscience. Belikrov's Chosen Belikrov has attracted a significant clergy around herself, and Belikrov's Priests and Priestesses can be found across Northern Farthrone, especially in Novdahain, Krontiz, and Drenden, Focused on spreading the scripture of Belikrov, they implore people to join the war against Xhahon-Dor, and to accept the Waxen Gift so they may turn the tide. Frequently these roving groups are treated with suspicion and anger, not least because they often have several Waxen in their entourage, usually for protection. Outside of spreading Belikrov's message, her clergy play an active part in the war. Commanding forces of Waxen, and giving the Gift to wounded or dying soldiers, they form an increasingly integral part of the forces that oppose Xhahon-Dor. In their own separate camps they anoint the Waxen with oils, massage and dress their wounds, and arm them for war. Trained continuously in the art of reanimation, the High Priests and Priestesses are divine spellcasters of no small power, able to command dozens of Waxen, or smite their enemies from afar with the fury of Belikrov and the Gods. Corrupting the Pure Belikrov's Blood is a powerful divine substance, and its results have been the envy of many sorcerers, magi and even clerics in the region. The ability to easily summon dozens of Waxen servants has led many would-be necromancers to experiment with the blood, often to grisly and tragic results. Arcane necromancers have found that their magic corrupts the Blood, turning it black and oily and inverting its properties. When administered to a living patient, the Black Blood quickly courses through their entire body, beginning a strange process of preservation and decay. The unfortunate patient's body grows cold to the touch, and they become unable to receive healing from divine servants. Over time, these symptoms worsen, until the patient becomes a living undead, able to be affected and controlled by spells that target the reanimated, while being harmed by positive energy and healed by negative. Necromancers have quickly realised that this final stage of corruption is invaluable, since they can directly puppet sentient, living beings, and then raise their preserved bodies ad infinitum. As such, the Black Blood has spread in secret, carefully created from stolen supplies of the Waxen Gift and grown and drained in the tissues of the living. Whether Belikrov is aware of this transgression is unknown, and there are reports of necromancers far away from Farthrone worshiping the Waxen Queen in ignorance for her apparent gift to them. The Gifts of Blood '''The White Blood of Belikrov' The White Blood of Belikrov can only be administered by a divine spellcaster who draws his or her power from either The Lady of Candles or Belikrov herself. The ritual takes several hours and renders the recipient unconscious for 6-12 hours after completion. When successfully administered, the recipient's blood vessels pulse with a slow, white blood that is visible from looking at the person's more prominent veins, such as on their neck, or on their arms. The White Blood of Belikrov is not known to give any boon to the living, but the ritual entails an agreement wherein the recipient's soul is guaranteed to go under the care and favourable judgement of the Lady of Candles. The White Blood of Belikrov has several effects: This corpse, now devoid of almost all of the recipients soul and life essence, can be more easily reanimated by a Divine Spellcaster. * When the recipient is slain or dies of some other cause, their body does not decay in any way, and the White Blood simply sits within their body, preserving it seemingly forever. * The corpse is immune to the following spells that would usually affect undead or corpses ** Decompose Corpse ** Sculpt Corpse ** Speak With Dead ** Sands of Time ** All spells of resurrection * Mechanically, a Divine Spellcaster can cast Animate Dead on the body of the recipient, except the reanimated zombie is not staggered and is treated as true neutral, rather than neutral evil. This makes any zombie created with White Blood immune to the healing and damaging effects of both positive and negative energy, such as from a Cleric's Channel Energy, or the spells Consecrate and Desecrate. * Since the body of the recipient never rots, unless it is utterly destroyed or maimed beyond usefulness, it may be reanimated again and again without penalty. * In addition, the casting of Animate Dead on a corpse that has received Belikrov's Blood is not considered an inherently evil spell as a normal casting of Animate Dead is. The Black Blood Black Blood is created when a vial, urn, or body containing the White Blood is targeted by the spell Desecrate, Bestow Curse or Major Curse. The White Blood turns black and oily, and quickly becomes a freezing cold liquid that harms all living beings who touch it. Black blood repulses and freezes all natural life, although certain creatures like aberrations, undead, and black-blooded oracles and bloodragers possess an uncanny immunity to its effects. Any other creature that comes into contact with black blood takes 1d6 points of cold damage—10d6 points of cold damage per round if fully immersed. Administering Black Blood to a living being is a ritual that is still being experimented with by Necromancers throughout Tolas. The exact components, steps and results vary wildly as this new substance makes its way into the darker corners of magical study. Although black blood isn’t itself inherently evil, a pint of black blood can be used as unholy water. A spellcaster who consumes a dose of black blood casts all necromantic spells at +1 caster level for the next 10 minutes, but takes 3d6 points of cold damage and 1 point of Constitution damage by drinking the stuff. Normally, a dose of black blood becomes inert an hour after being harvested from the source, losing all mystical properties. Gentle repose can preserve up to 1 gallon of black blood’s magical properties for increased lengths of time, but no other method of stabilizing the stuff has yet been developed. The unfortunate host of the Black Blood undergoes many similar effects as if he or she imbibed Belikrov's Blood. The hosts veins turn pitch black and her blood because sluggish. The whites of the host's eyes turn a similar nightly shade, and the hose is susceptible to the following effects: * When the recipient is slain or dies of some other cause, their body does not decay in any way, and the Black Blood simply sits within their body, preserving it seemingly forever. * Positive energy damages the bearer of Black Blood, while negative energy heals the host. * Any spellcaster casting any spell that targets undead in particular (such as Command Undead, Desecrate, Consecrate, Undead to Death, Detect Undead, Unliving Rage, etc) can target the host of Black Blood with these spells, and the host receives a +1 DC penalty on resisting these spells. * The host receives a resistance to cold of 5. * The host receives low-light vision. Category:Deity Category:Exarchs Category:Lady of Candles Category:Homerules